


Your Visible Soul

by frapandfurious



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Attempt at Humor, Cats, Chicken Soup Kylux, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Happy Ending, Light Angst, M/M, Mostly Enemies to Friends, Neighbors, No Harm Comes To Cats I Promise, Pre-Relationship, Rivalry, With Lovers Implied
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-23 16:18:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13791438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frapandfurious/pseuds/frapandfurious
Summary: Hux’s new neighbor was big, loud and messy.And so was its owner, Kylo.





	Your Visible Soul

**Author's Note:**

> So this just sort of...happened. I got the idea while buying a BB-9e today the other day and thought out loud to my friend, "what if 9e - omg, Niney! Like nine lives, get it?! - was a big menace of a black cat and Kylo moves in next door to Hux and Millicent and the cats just hate each other and so do the owners?" and...it grew from there, and it changed a little, but that's the gist of it.
> 
> I'm calling this the Cat Dads AU~
> 
> Title inspired by this quote: "I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul." - Jean Cocteau
> 
> The term "chicken soup kylux" is courtesy of [kyluxtrashpit](http://kyluxtrashpit.tumblr.com/) and I had to ask if I could use it because it's genius~
> 
> Enjoy!

"The real lover of cats is one who demands a clearer adjustment to the universe than ordinary household platitudes provide; one who refuses to swallow the sentimental notion that all good people love dogs, children, and horses while all bad people dislike and are disliked by such."

\- [Cats and Dogs](http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/essays/cd.aspx) by H.P. Lovecraft

 

-

 

 

Hux’s new neighbor was big, loud and messy.

 

And so was its owner, Kylo.

 

He’d never spoken to the man; he only knew his name from the label on his mail slot in the apartment building’s lobby: #227 next to Hux’s #228. It looked like another name had been neatly printed on the label like all the others, then someone had scratched it out and written K Y L O over it in marker.

 

Hux didn’t, however, know the name of the man’s _nuisance of a cat_. The one that kept coming across from the neighboring balcony to his own and upsetting his Millie.

 

It was big – not fat, mind you, just an impressively _large_ cat that didn’t seem to _know_ it was large, and so would try to fit itself onto spaces half its size, like the railing, or the small pedestals that held Hux’s potted plants. It was only a matter of time before the thing decided to try to squeeze through small gap he sometimes left the balcony door open for Millie, who was so much more slender and graceful in comparison.

 

It was loud – it meowed at _everything_ , or so it seemed, Hux could even hear it through the walls at times, and it was not a sweet, pleasant _meow_ but a drawn out _mrrowwwww_ that grated on his nerves. His Millie barely made a sound other than purring in his lap or the occasional beseeching _mew_ when she wanted to be fed.

 

It was messy – more than once it had knocked over the aforementioned plants. Another time Hux had left a glass of water and a book on the little table out there, gone inside for barely a minute, and then come out to find the water knocked over and the book sopping wet while the culprit darted away to its home balcony.

 

Its owner was no better.

 

 _Big_. Hux had only caught glimpses of him in passing, but it was enough to see he was not only taller than Hux but broad-shouldered and muscular, and he had large, unusual features…just _far too much_ person to take in in one glance.

 

 _Loud_. Hux could hear him through the walls: loud arguments on the phone, the thuds of what he presumed were weights, different thuds that sounded like a punching bag being slammed into again and again, and occasionally things being broken.

 

 _Messy_. His balcony looked shameful next to Hux’s, crammed with an old rickety table and a pair of mismatched chairs, several crates of who-knew-what, a shelf with pots containing no plants, and a bicycle. He dressed in dark, ill-fitting clothes and his hair was always in his face. Hux shuddered to imagine what the inside of his apartment must look like.

 

The man and his pet even sort of looked similar. The cat had medium-length, sleek black fur, save for one white spot on its left paw, and big, deep gold eyes that seemed to stare right into your soul. The man’s hair was just as dark and shiny, his skin speckled with moles and his brown-eyed gaze intense the handful of times they’d made eye contact.

 

All of this – the cat, the man, living beside them – had been going on for a month now. But while Hux had no problem confronting others, he was a busy man who valued his free time _very much_ , and was loath to waste a moment of it chewing out his obnoxious neighbor. So he decided unless things went too far, he’d simply put up with it.

 

And then things went too far.

 

*

 

Kylo had only lived in his new apartment for a month, but he was pretty sure his next door neighbor hated him.

 

He couldn’t imagine why. They’d never said a word to each other.

 

Even if Kylo wanted to talk – which he _didn’t_ , he didn’t care to make friends here, he was just trying to start over and get as far from home as possible – every time he so much as looked at the man he was met with a sneer unlike any he’d ever seen.

 

 _Who pissed in his Cheerios?_ He wondered the first time it happened. The second time he reflexively looked down at himself to see if there was something on his shirt, or his fly was undone or something, but he found nothing worthy of such disdain. From the third time on, he tried to ignore it, though it still bothered him.

 

In a building full of uninteresting people, this man was the only one who had caught his eye in any way. He was nearly as tall as Kylo, but leaner. He was always well-dressed, the bright hair atop his head always neatly combed. He seemed determined and confident, yet there was something else about him Kylo couldn’t quite put his finger on, just beneath the surface.

 

 _Armitage Hux_ , that was his name. Kylo had seen it on the mail slot beside his own. A name as sharp and stuck-up as the man himself.

 

And he had a cat, like Kylo did. The first time he’d seen it he almost burst out laughing. The cat was the spitting image of her owner, from the short, neatly groomed ginger hair to the way she turned up her nose when Kylo tried to offer her a bit of leftover burger meat. He frowned but took the opportunity to read the name on the little metal tag hanging from her white leather collar.

 

 _Millicent_.

 

“Who the hell names their cat Millicent?” he wondered aloud. Then again, who named their son _Armitage?_ He hoped the man’s family never came around.

 

He tried to pet her but she ducked away from his hand. So, noticing the judging look his own cat, Nine, was giving him through the window, Kylo gently shooed her back to her own balcony and moved on.

 

It wasn’t worth it to confront his neighbor about his odd attitude towards Kylo, he decided. He’d had more than enough trouble _playing well with others_ back home, he didn’t need to be starting trouble here. He liked his apartment, he liked the area, Nine was settling in nicely. No, he was going to make this work, snooty neighbor or not. He’d just have to deal with it. What could go wrong?

 

Then something went wrong.

 

*

 

It was a warm Friday evening in May. Hux had finished his work early and was settling down on the couch with a glass of wine and his Netflix queue when he heard it.

 

 _Hissing_.

 

He paused with the glass lifted halfway to his lips and listened for the sound again. Maybe it was coming from down on the street, or from a television in another apartment.

 

No, no, there it was again, right outside his window. The sound of a cat _hissing_. Another sound joined it, a low growl that sounded dangerous. It couldn’t be his Millie, could it? She’d never made a sound like that in her life.

 

Then there was a crash and Hux leapt to his feet, nearly dropping the glass as he set it on the coffee table and hurried to the balcony. There he was greeted with the sight of yet another of his pots knocked over and dirt splashed across the floor. Luckily nothing had been planted in it yet, but still, another mess for him to clean up. Above it on the railing was Millie, her back arched and hair on end as she hissed, baring her teeth at another cat.

 

No, not just another cat. That big, stupid cat from next door, which was hunched on the stand where the pot had been and growling low in its throat at Millie. They were barely a foot apart, and both looked ready to strike.

 

At that moment the door to the neighboring balcony swung open and Kylo stepped out, wearing nothing but pajama pants, hair disheveled like he’d been woken from a nap. Hux could have strangled him right then and there: for being the sort of person who took a nap at seven p.m. on a Friday, for not keeping an eye on his cat, for having a body _like that_ when Hux hated him so much.

 

“Shit,” the other man said. “Nine, get over here!” He followed the call with a sharp whistle that at least got the other cat’s attention enough for him to stop growling at Millicent.

 

Hux took the opportunity to hurry over and scoop Millicent up, holding her close to his chest.

 

“Get that _thing_ off of my porch right this instant!” Hux snapped. This was it, he’d reached his breaking point. The noise, the mess, that was all one thing, but to threaten his Millie? That was a step too far.

 

Kylo gave him a dark look. “It’s not like he’s gonna hurt her! He’s just curious! She’s probably the one who started it!”

 

Hux scoffed. “My cat has never been in a fight in her life.”

 

“Sure,” Kylo mumbled. “Nine, come here,” he said more softly, tapping his fingers on the railing, and finally the cat got up and trotted over. Kylo picked him up like he weighed nothing and held him, mirroring Hux. Unlike Millicent, though, the cat squirmed from his grip and climbed onto his shoulder where he perched and fixed Hux and Millie with a look matching that of his owner.

 

“ _Nine?_ ” Hux said with obvious distaste.

“Yeah, Nine,” Kylo replied defensively. “Like nine lives?”

 

“Yes, I got that. Very creative.”

 

“Hey shut up! What did we even do to you anyway? You’ve had a stick up your ass since the day I moved in!”

 

“What did you _do?_ ” Hux snapped. “Your cat is noisy, it’s reckless, it comes onto my porch and knocks over my things and threatens my cat! It doesn’t even have a _collar_! It might as well be a stray! And as for _you_ , you make quite a bit of noise yourself over there, not to mention your porch is a mess and frankly makes the rest of us look bad. You clearly don’t belong here and since you arrived you’ve been nothing but _trouble_.”

 

Hux’s heart was pounding, his breaths shaky as he finished his tirade. For a moment, the other man had the audacity to look _hurt_. Then the expression morphed into rage.

 

“Yeah? Well you’re the rudest, most unwelcoming, most _stuck-up_ neighbor I’ve ever had, and my mom’s a politician. And you know what else? You’re a fucking _coward_. If you had a problem with me why didn’t you just say something?”

 

Hux felt his face heat. _Coward?_

 

“Well I’m saying something now,” he said carefully, through gritted teeth. “Stay away from us. Both of you.” With that he turned on his heel before the man could say another word, stormed inside and slammed the door.

 

“ _FINE!_ ” He heard from outside followed by an answering slam.

 

Hux was seething. This wasn’t over.

 

*

 

Over the next few weeks, things only escalated. Nine seemed determined to cause Hux as much trouble as possible, knocking things over or scratching up his deck furniture then darting away to safety before Hux could catch him, meowing noisily at the closed door just to rile up Millicent, once he even threw up on Hux’s porch, though that was more likely an accident, but it still sent Hux into a rage.

 

His owner was no better; he turned his TV volume up higher, dropped his weights more heavily, and his porch had somehow become _even messier_. If Kylo was home and heard Millicent hissing her disapproval of Nine he’d storm out to the deck and start trying to shoo her away, which made Hux storm out and start yelling at him until they were both shouting at each other and finally a neighbor told them to cut it out or they’d call the cops.

 

Hux was never one to back down from a fight. He’d get that inconsiderate bastard and his cat to behave, or leave. The latter would be preferable.

 

He started reporting Kylo for the noise, which earned Kylo two written warnings and finally a visit from security, which Hux triumphantly watched from his doorway. Kylo had shot him a look that would have struck fear in the heart of a lesser man, but Hux only smiled innocently and went inside.

 

The week that followed was so blessedly quiet.

 

 _Too_ quiet.

 

By the end of the week, Hux was on edge, convinced that Kylo was up to something.

 

Sure enough, that Saturday he came home from running errands. It was pouring rain outside, and he was looking forward to changing into dry clothes and getting comfortable in his nice, warm, _dry_ apartment…

 

Which was currently being whipped with rain water from the open balcony door.

 

Hux stared and stared. He set his groceries down and hung up his keys, still staring. Luckily, most of the water was getting on his kitchen floor and table, none of it reaching his carpeted living area, but _still._ Meanwhile Millicent was perched on the back of the couch, looking distraught about the whole thing.

 

That door was closed when he left, he was certain of it. Which meant…

 

Without even bothering to remove his wet coat or put his things away, he stormed to the apartment beside his and pounded on the door.

 

The door had barely opened before he was screaming in Kylo’s face, and then Kylo was screaming back. They grew louder and louder, they stepped into each other’s space, drawing up to their full heights, their faces inches apart, neither about to back down first.

 

The rest of the hall poked out of their doors to watch, until one person finally feared things getting violent and went to get security.

 

They were pried apart by two guards and brought down to speak with the superintendent, who told them he’d been receiving complaints about them for weeks, and that if this didn’t stop immediately, they’d be receiving an eviction notice by the end of the month.

 

“ _Me?_ ” Hux had replied indignantly. “He’s the one who – “

 

The super had silenced him with a single look. Hux glanced at Kylo, half expecting to find a smug look on his face, but Kylo was surprisingly sobered, his head down and hair covering his face, blocking it from Hux’s view. His only tell was his fists clenched at his sides.

 

They both, of course, agreed to stop, and promised to apologize to the rest of their hall, and even managed tight smiles when they shook hands before he sent them on their way. Hux returned to his apartment as quickly as he could without looking like he was running away, expecting to hear Kylo’s trudging steps not far behind, but to his surprise, Kylo walked out the front door of the building, heading who-knew-where.

 

This time when things remained quiet, Hux didn’t question it. He kept to himself, he didn’t look at Kylo when they passed in the hall, he only left the balcony door open for Millicent when he was home to keep an eye on things.

 

But there was nothing to keep an eye on. Nine stopped showing up, the knocked-over plants and howls at his window stopped, the hissing matches between Millicent and Nine stopped. The noise from next door stopped as well, though the neighboring porch remained a mess. He’d won, but it felt like a hollow victory, considering he’d made a fool of himself in the process.

 

As time went on, though, the shame faded and he settled back into his peaceful life, blessedly Kylo-free.

 

*

 

The knock on his door came just as Kylo was waking from his nap.

 

He spent most days waiting on tables at a diner before hitting the gym in the afternoon, which left him exhausted by the time he got home at five. His good intentions to get things done never quite panned out, and so he quickly accepted his new routine of shower, dinner, nap until around eight, get up and have time to himself until midnight, then do it all again the next day.

 

It wasn’t a bad life. Staying busy kept his thoughts from catching up with him, he had time on his days off to enjoy himself without his family breathing down his neck, and of course he had Nine for company.

 

Still. There were days when he got home to his apartment, cluttered with his things yet somehow still so _empty_ , and wondered if there was something missing.

 

He buried the feeling by working out, trying out some new hobbies, bingeing his way through shows he overheard customers talking about, and spoiling Nine rotten. Things were alright.

 

There had been the mess with his horrible neighbor, but even that had cooled significantly since the meeting with their super. Instead of the usual sneers when they passed, Armitage Hux avoided his eyes entirely. Kylo didn’t give him any reason to raise a complaint, and Hux left him alone.

 

So why was he at Kylo’s door at eight on a Sunday evening, looking like a wire about to snap?

 

Kylo squinted at him through the peephole for a moment, debating whether or not he should open the door. Could he pretend not to be home? Or to be asleep already? What had he done now, anyway?

 

Curiosity won out. He stepped back and opened the door.

 

“Where is she?” Hux blurted out before Kylo even had a chance to offer an awkward greeting.

 

Kylo blinked at him, too startled by his appearance to register the question. He’d never seen Hux like this. His hair was a mess, there were dark circles under his eyes, his clothes were so rumpled it looked like he’d slept in them, if he’d slept at all. He was shaking, his fists clenched so tight it must have hurt.

 

“Huh?” Kylo finally responded after a long pause.

 

“ _Where. Is. She?”_ Hux’s face took on some of the fierce anger it had had during their arguments weeks ago, what felt like much longer. But there was something else. Desperation, _fear_.

 

“Where is who?” Kylo asked lamely.

 

“You know damn well who! Millicent! Where is my cat? What have you done with her?”

 

Kylo felt a familiar rage beginning to boil in him. He took three deep breaths, steadying himself by gripping the door tightly.

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said as calmly as he could manage.

 

“She’s been missing since yesterday,” Hux spat. “I looked all over the building, asked all the other neighbors if they’d seen her, even checked in the yard out front, and then,” he sounded almost frantic, “and then, this morning, I realized – the answer was right next door. _You_. I thought this childish nonsense was over with, but you had to go and have the last laugh, didn’t you? _You took her_ , I know you did, now _give. Her. BACK._ ”

 

As he finished his rant a hand darted out and gripped the front of Kylo’s t-shirt tightly in a fist, drawing the collar so tight around his neck it almost hurt. Kylo lurched forward, startled by the man’s strength. He braced himself in the doorway to keep himself from shoving the man off him, though it was tempting. He’d defend himself if he had to, but he wasn’t going to let Hux be able to say Kylo threw the first punch, if it came to that.

 

“I. Don’t. Have her.” He replied through gritted teeth, his gaze boring into Hux’s. “How stupid do you think I am? No, don’t answer that. Look, we almost got _evicted_ , and I can’t afford that right now. Things were working out, why would I fuck it all up by _stealing your cat?_ ”

 

Hux stared and stared, his gaze flickering between Kylo’s eyes and the apartment behind him. He swallowed tightly. His grip loosened in Kylo’s shirt and he stepped back, but he didn’t look appeased. If anything, he looked worse. Kylo braced himself for another outburst.

 

Instead, right there in front of him, Hux crumbled.

 

His hand dropped away. His stiff posture slumped and his face fell, the uncharacteristic kicked-puppy expression making him look years younger and so, so tired. His gaze landed somewhere around Kylo’s shoulder. He was trembling.

 

“But if…if you don’t have her, then. Then where…” He trailed off, looking lost.

 

“Wait. She’s really missing?”

 

“Yes,” Hux said distantly. “I forgot to close the balcony door all the way before I left yesterday. When I came back she was gone. I’ve looked _everywhere_. When I couldn’t find her outside I was so sure she was with you. That was my…my last hope. And now I don’t know. What to do. If something happened to her, I’ll…”

 

Hux swayed a little and Kylo caught him by the shoulders, cursing under his breath. Hux quickly steadied himself and Kylo dropped his hands, but Hux didn’t leave.

 

Kylo glanced back into his apartment, where Nine was curled up asleep on top of one of his t-shirts, sure to leave clumps of black hair on it. He wouldn’t trade that for anything, that one, small beacon of company and comfort in his otherwise lonely life.

 

He looked back at Hux, who he now realized never had company over, never seemed to do anything but work and come home, just like Kylo. The _something else_ about him that Kylo had never been able to put his finger on all these weeks was finally clear.

 

He was _lonely_.

 

Something welled up in Kylo’s chest and pressed almost painfully. He could turn away now, go back inside and pretend this never happened. It had nothing to do with him, not to mention they _hated_ each other.

 

But…

 

 _There’s something wrong with that one_ , his neighbors had whispered.

 

 _I just don’t know what to do about him,_ his mother had said. _He can’t seem to get along with anyone._

 

_He was mean. Selfish. Trouble._

 

He almost believed it all, had almost gone down a path he couldn’t come back from. But he’d escaped. They were wrong about him; he was going to spend the rest of his life convincing himself of that.

 

And maybe…maybe he’d been wrong about Hux, too.

 

“Wait here,” he said. Hux startled like he’d forgotten Kylo was even there. “Let me get my shoes on. I’ll help you look.”

 

He quickly slipped on his shoes, grabbed his keys and a jacket. At the last moment he decided not to put it on, tossing it over Hux’s shoulders instead. It was cool outside for late June and Hux seemed to need it more.

 

“Let’s go,” he said, and Hux followed wordlessly.

 

First they told the on-duty security guard to keep an eye out for the cat, and to ask anyone who came in the same. He was so shocked to see them getting along that he instantly agreed, and said he’d pass it on to the next shift, too.

 

Then they hit the streets. They searched around their building, then around the surrounding buildings, down back alleys and even shined their phones into the dumpsters. There was a little playground out back; they searched in slides and under benches and up in trees and behind rows of bushes.

 

Back out front they looked under every car on their side of the street. Hux nearly darted out in front of a car to go look on the other side; Kylo caught him around the waist and pulled him back just in time. Hux looked up at him, mouth agape, momentarily stunned, before remembering his objective and running across without looking. Kylo cursed and followed him.

 

The sun set and the streetlights came on and still no sign of Millicent. Hux looked so pale Kylo worried he might either pass out or be sick.

 

“You should go get some sleep,” he muttered, “you can keep looking in the m-“

 

“No,” Hux snapped. “I’m not going in.”

 

“It’s dark,” Kylo argued. “It’ll be easier to find her in the daylight.”

 

“In missing persons cases, if they aren’t found within the first forty-eight hours, the likelihood of finding them goes – “

 

“This isn’t a missing persons case,” Kylo said exasperatedly, “she’s not _kidnapped_ , she’s probably just a little lost, but cats are smart, I’m sure she’ll be just – “

 

“She’s all I have!” Hux’s eyes were wild, his voice cracking as it cut through the quiet evening.

 

Kylo sighed and rubbed a hand over his face.

 

“I know.”

 

And he _did_ know. So they kept looking.

 

It was nearly ten-thirty by the time they completed their third sweep of the area. Hux had gone from desperate to almost numb, his steps faltering beside Kylo’s. Kylo hated to even humor the thought, but the chances of finding Millicent looked slim. He didn’t dare say that, though. But he had to find a way to get Hux back inside before he killed himself searching for her.

 

It was funny: the idea of Millicent and Hux just disappearing from his life had sounded nice, in theory. The reality of it was less appealing.

 

“Maybe she made her way back on her own,” he suggested, keeping his tone light.

 

“Maybe,” Hux muttered. That seemed to give him a little spark, though, and he looked up towards their balconies.

 

“Should we go check?” Kylo prodded.

 

Hux wordlessly ambled to the doors, Kylo close behind. He almost dared to hope he was right.

 

But Millicent wasn’t there when they entered Hux’s immaculate apartment. Hux stood in the empty living area and Kylo could practically feel the last bit of hope draining from him.

 

“Do you want to…” Kylo was about to offer to go and keep looking. He didn’t _want_ to, he wanted to go to bed, but if Hux kept looking, so would he.

 

Before he could finish, Hux had dropped onto the couch and curled up on his side, the exhaustion of two days of searching finally catching up with him. His slow-blinking eyes stared ahead, still somehow fighting off sleep.

 

Unsure what else to do, Kylo was about to turn and go when…

 

“Thank you,” Hux rasped. One hand gripped onto the sofa pillow like he was trying to keep himself from slipping away.

 

Kylo stared at him.

 

“I’ll be right back,” he said.

 

He went to his apartment and gathered some things. When he returned Hux was still awake. In Kylo’s absence he’d let some tears slip down his face, but remained subdued, so quiet and broken that Kylo couldn’t find an ounce of anger towards him anymore. He was still wearing Kylo’s jacket.

 

“Here,” Kylo said, and set down Nine on the sofa by Hux. Nine kneaded at the cushion, turned a couple of times, then plopped down and settled against Hux’s stomach. “He seems mean sometimes, but he’s really sweet if you give him a chance,” Kylo mumbled. “I know it’s not the same, but…”

 

Hux settled one shaking hand on Nine’s head and pet slowly down along his back. Nine started purring almost immediately. Hux’s eyes finally drooped shut. He kept his hand there, stroking Nine’s fur with one thumb until he drifted off to sleep.

 

Kylo locked up Hux’s apartment, shut off the lights, brushed his teeth. Just before settling down into an armchair for the night, he opened the balcony door a crack. Just in case.

 

*

 

“ _Wake up!_ ”

 

The voice seemed far away, like it was coming from across a long distance. Still, Hux grumbled at the rude awakening and burrowed deeper into the pillow. Surely it was too early for this, whatever _this_ was.

 

The voice made an exasperated sound. Suddenly there was something gripping his shoulder, shaking him gently, and the voice was much closer.

 

“Come on, _wake up_ – what do I even call you? Armitage? Mr. Hux? Ugh, no, nevermind, _get up_ …”

 

“Hux,” he muttered to the pushy voice. “Just Hux.”

 

“Okay just Hux, wake up, you’re gonna want to see this. She’s back!” The voice moved away again.

 

Who was back? He lived alone. He supposed, with that knowledge, it should alarm him that there was a voice in his room, but he still wasn’t convinced he wasn’t dreaming anyway, so it was of little importance.

 

“Millicent is back!” the voice said.

 

Hux gave a breathy laugh and stretched. Of course Millicent was here, where else would she –

 

His eyes flew open.

 

 _Millicent_.

 

That’s right. She disappeared. When? A day ago? No, two. It felt like a week.

 

Groggy and disoriented, he pushed himself up and groaned at the stiffness in his neck. He wasn’t in his room or in his bed, but on the couch in his living room. And the voice wasn’t just a voice, it belonged to a tall, dark-haired man. His neighbor, Kylo.

 

The sight of him made an old, familiar distaste bubble up in Hux. But before he could ask what the hell Kylo was doing his in apartment, his eyes caught up with his brain and he stopped short.

 

Kylo was kneeling on the kitchen floor and in front of him was Millicent, eating hungrily out of a food bowl while Kylo stroked down her back. He looked up at Hux, brown eyes gleaming. “See? Told you, cats are smart! She got back all on her own.”

 

Hux stood from the couch and as his feet hit the ground there was another small thump along with them, followed by a disgruntled _mrowww_. He looked down just in time to see Nine shake off his sudden upheaval and leap back onto the couch, where he curled up in the warm spot where Hux had been.

 

He didn’t have time to wonder why Nine, or Kylo for that matter, was there. He stumbled over to the kitchen and fell to his knees by Millicent, drawing her into his arms and stroking over her fur and kissing her face. She was a little damp, it must have rained, and there was some dirt in her fur, but otherwise she seemed unharmed.

 

“Don’t scare me like that,” he whispered, “Don’t do that to me ever again…”

 

Millicent allowed this for a moment before squirming from his grip and returning to the bowl of food. Hux didn’t know how long she’d gone without food so he didn’t try to stop her, just kept petting her and whispering to her while she ate.

 

When the surge of relief finally passed, when his heart had calmed, he looked up to find Kylo watching him, a strange look on his face. Almost a smile.

 

“What?” Hux snapped.

 

Kylo’s face fell. For reasons he couldn’t place, Hux’s heart went with it. He was still barely awake, dizzy with relief at having Millicent back, and couldn’t fathom why Kylo and his cat were in his apartment. Yet snapping at them didn’t carry the _rightness_ it once had.

 

Kylo nodded and stood with a little grunt.

 

“Right,” he said. “We should go.”

 

He walked to the couch and scooped up Nine, who meowed in protest but let Kylo drape him over one shoulder. When he turned back to Hux, there was sadness in his eyes that made Hux’s heart lurch unpleasantly again.

 

“I’m glad she’s alright,” he muttered. “You can, uh. Give that back whenever you have a chance.” He motioned to Hux with one hand.

 

“What?”

 

He followed Kylo’s gaze to himself, to the too-large black jacket he was wearing over his horribly wrinkled button-up and slacks. He reached a hand up to his face, scratchy with two days’ worth of stubble, then to his hair, which flopped into his face. His hand slid back down to the jacket. It looked familiar, and it took a couple of long moments for him to realize that was because it was Kylo’s, he’d seen him wear it many times in passing.

 

And then he remembered everything. Searching on his own for hours before showing up, desperate, at Kylo’s door, accusing him of taking his cat. His devastation upon finding she wasn’t there. Kylo offering his help. Spending the night searching together.

 

Towards the end things started to get fuzzy. He remembered being so incredibly tired, he only vaguely remembered returning to his apartment, and that was it.

 

Kylo had helped him look for Millicent. He and Nine must have stayed the night – to look after him? To keep him company? – and then she’d returned this morning.

 

Suddenly his chest felt tight. His hand stilled on Millie’s back and he looked up to where Kylo was gathering up a blanket from the armchair.

 

“Wait,” he said. He stood shakily and walked to him, removing the jacket as he did so. He felt too raw, too open as he handed it to Kylo, hand shaking. It had been a rough few days. And yet somehow he knew he wouldn’t have made it through without this man, who he could no longer find it in himself to hate.

 

“Thank you,” he said. He hoped it sounded sincere; he really was awful with other people. There was a reason he lived alone with his cat.

 

Kylo accepted the jacket, his deep gaze locked with Hux’s. After a moment it softened and something like a smile made its way back onto his face. He shrugged one shoulder.

 

“Yeah, no problem. Like I said, I’m glad she’s okay.” He chewed on his bottom lip for a moment, considering Hux. “Listen, maybe we could just…start over?”

 

Kylo extended his hand. He looked so _hopeful_.

 

Hux thought back to those weeks of silently hating his neighbor, who he didn’t even know, and then the weeks that followed, fighting constantly, and then the quiet weeks of tense peace following that.

 

All they’d done was made themselves, and each other, miserable. And still when Hux needed someone Kylo had helped him, with nothing to gain. Now here he was, offering his hand to Hux. A real truce, not a forced one. A second chance.

 

Before he could reconsider, Hux took his hand and gave it a firm shake. Kylo _smiled_.

 

“Hi. I’m Kylo.”

 

Hux rolled his eyes but gave in anyway. “Hux. Pleasure to meet you.”

 

They were interrupted by a long yowl from Nine where he was flopped across Kylo’s shoulders. Their hands broke apart and they both laughed awkwardly. The sound didn’t bother Hux like it once did; in fact, it was sort of endearing. He gave Nine a little scratch behind the ears. He was actually quite a pretty cat.

 

He looked at Kylo again and remembered something else from last night. At least, he was fairly sure it was a real memory, not something he’d dreamed.

 

_“He seems mean sometimes, but he’s really sweet if you give him a chance.”_

 

“Are you hungry?” Hux asked quickly.

 

Kylo shrugged, paused, and then nodded. “Yeah, actually.”

 

“I’m starving. If you wait around a moment for me to shower, we could…grab breakfast somewhere?”

 

“Don’t you have to work?”

 

Hux looked at the time and flinched. It was well past nine. He started at seven most days. “Well. I’ve never called off sick, but I suppose there’s a first time for everything. What about you?”

 

“I’m off today. But…” He rubbed at the back of his head. “I’m still new here. I don’t know where we could go.”

 

“I know a few places,” Hux assured him.

 

He disappeared for a while to shower, shave, and get his thoughts together. So much had happened in such a short time, and the scare with Millie had shaken him. Yet for the first time in a while he felt good about something.

 

When he reemerged, he paused for a moment in the doorway to take in the sight that greeted him.

 

Kylo was slumped into the armchair, eyes closed. Nine was still sprawled on one of his shoulders, and Millicent had deemed him worthy and curled up in his lap while he stroked her fur. Like Hux, she was slow to trust. It spoke volumes that she’d taken to Kylo so quickly. He decided to take it as a good sign.

 

“Ready?” Hux said, and Kylo’s eyes popped open.

 

“Yeah. Except, uh.” He glanced between the two cats. “I’m kind of compromised.”

 

“Hmm. How about we stay in instead? I make a mean omelet.”

 

“That sounds amazing.” He closed his eyes and went back to petting Millie.

 

Yes, Hux decided. He felt very good about this.

 

*

 

Kylo’s neighbor was picky, stubborn, a control freak…who loved cuddling and sunny days, who ate more than you’d expect, who had a lot of love to give, given the chance.

 

Just like her owner, Hux.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Update: the art for this fic is by [theearlgreyalpha](http://theearlgreyalpha.tumblr.com/) and can be found on tumblr [here](http://obsessions-and-dreams.tumblr.com/post/171742347565/indulged-in-some-fanart-for-my-fic-your-visible) !
> 
> -
> 
>   [tumblr](http://obsessions-and-dreams.tumblr.com/)


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